“So, we’re not lying to your family? Just mine?” Tyler asked as we walked up the porch steps to my childhood home that Sunday afternoon.
“Unlike your dad, my family is already aware that I’m the family fuck-up and doesn’t hold it against me,” I replied, but then thought about it for a moment longer. “Actually, they are always up my butt about it, but still…it’s not a secret. Either way, I don’t want to lie about us or anything like that to them. They’d know right away.”
I barely had my hand on the doorknob when it swung open, and my sister Nia was standing in the opening.
“Please tell me you brought the sauce,” Nia immediately fired off a question before all else.
I opened my tote bag and pulled out a glass bottle of barbecue sauce from our favorite barbecue restaurant in Atlanta called Anna’s BBQ that I had picked up earlier this year at Atlanta Pride—literally my favorite month of the year. Anna’s BBQ was a little behind the times in all ways technology, so shipping it to us wasn’t an option. Now, everyone in my family made it a point to stop by and get some to go if they were ever in Atlanta.
“Hello to you, too,” I responded as she took it from me. “This is Tyler, by the way.”
Nia finally seemed to register that someone was standing next to me. Her eyes scanned Tyler with every bit of judgment you’d expect from an older sister.
“Nice to meet you, Tyler.” Nia extended her hand, and her tone turned from urgent to cordial. “Yas did mention she was bringing a guest, but she kept us all in the dark on who. How do you two know each other?”
Tyler’s face had gone full white-girl-panic, so I put my hand on her forearm and hugged her closer to me.
“Tyler and I have been getting close lately, and now, she is also a business partner,” I informed my sister. “You guys are going to need to get to know her because she’s an angel investor in my new project.”
That had been a new development that we’d firmed up yesterday after the game, and I was excited about the doors it opened for us. Tyler was only going to come in at eight percent, so I was absolutely still the majority owner. However, her contribution would allow us to promote the bar on her podcast, utilize her resources, and add some “celesbian” fame to the bar’s background.
Nia ushered both of us inside the familiar entry way to my childhood home. “The bar?”
I didn’t get a chance to answer before Demetrius walked in with his arms spread wide. “Hey, baby sister.”
He caught me up in a bear hug that lifted me right off my feet. “We get it—you have muscles. Put me down!”
At least he had the sense to do what I told him with a big grin across his face. Tall and broad, he had the body of a linebacker and was overly confident about it for my liking, but whatever. “Haven’t seen you around the office in a while. Do you still work for us?”
Demetrius worked full-time for my father at Kiani Security, where he was currently training to take over for the Vice President of Operations at the end of the fiscal year. I loved D, but there wasn’t a creative bone in his body, so following in our father’s footsteps had just come natural to him. He had played football in high school and college—just like Dad—and now was stepping into Dad’s career.
He was a therapist’s wet dream, I’m sure.
“Hell no. I quit last year,” I reminded him. To be fair, I’d been back and forth at the company anytime I needed a routine paycheck, it was hard to keep track. “I’m starting my own business now.”
Demetrius’s best friend, Nicole, walked in behind him and gave me a tight hug. “Hey, Yas!”
Nicole was at every family function to the point that I basically considered them a sibling—they were nonbinary, so I was always careful to use appropriate pronouns. Neither of the two would admit to it, and God knows no one in my family would ask, but there was definitely something between them and Demetrius. I was just waiting until they one day finally decided to come clean and admit they were a couple—or maybe my brother was actually stupid enough to not realize what a catch Nicole was yet.
Whatever—not my monkeys, not my circus.
“What do you mean? What business?” Demetrius continued. “Does Dad know about this one?”
“I’m opening up a lesbian bar.” I pulled Tyler up next to me and gestured toward her. “Demetrius, Nicole—this is Tyler, my close friend and investor.”
Close friend really didn’t feel like it covered it at this point, but I wasn’t about to give my family the same performance we’d given her dad.
“Oh, my goodness!” Nicole gasped, their hands flying to their chest. “The Deviant Devotee!”
“The what?” Demetrius glanced at Nicole, then at Tyler.
“Uh, she’s referencing my podcast,” Tyler clarified. “I have a podcast called The Deviant Devotee.”
Nicole playfully whacked my brother’s arm. “D, I literally talk about it all the time. Remember the episode on copycat killer of The Vampire of Hanover who’d bite his victim’s necks like the original killer did? That was game changing. The pod went viral after that one.”
I made a mental note to ask Nicole for the Cliff’s Notes version of the podcast because I still hadn’t gotten around to listening to it, and that was absolutely going to come back to bite me in the ass at some point.
“Can we stop crowding the entry and everyone head to the kitchen?” Nia pointed toward the doorway that led to a small hallway and then our open plan kitchen, dining, and living room area that had always been the center of our home when we were growing up.
Some things never changed.
My father was seated in the worn leather La-Z-Boy recliner that was pointed toward the wall-mounted television above the fireplace. Back in my time living here, we’d had the big, old-school, boxy television on a stand in the corner, but my father was all about the latest technology. New iPhone hits the market? My father had it before the public could even buy it. Practically every single thing in this house was now run by a remote or a voice command, but the nearly thirty-year-old recliner had never once been served an eviction notice.
Nia was already back at her usual spot in front of the stove where she was using the sauce I’d brought her to coat a rack of ribs.
“Dad, do you know about Yas’s new business?” Demetrius dropped onto the deep-seated couch that jutted up against my father’s chair. “She said she’s opening a bar.”
He glanced sideways toward us for a millisecond before turning his attention back to the game on the television. “I know.”
Tyler and I settled in at the counter-height chairs against the kitchen island where an open bottle of red wine and a few clean glasses were calling my name. I poured us both a glass and took a quick sip before reengaging with the raucousness that was my family.
“He already went over the whole business plan with me, D,” I informed my brother, my tone slightly haughtier than I intended. For some reason, I always felt the need to defend myself around him. “It’s solid.”
“Half hair salon, half bar. The concept has legs,” my father agreed but then turned the volume up on the television.
Nicole joined Tyler and me at the kitchen counter, and I poured them a glass of wine as well. “Don’t mind your brother. You know how he can get.”
“I know I have to put up with him because we’re related, but I have no idea why you do,” I joked. I’d probably warned Nicole a hundred times to head for the hills, but for whatever reason, they had yet to give up on my brother. I mean, I guess he wasn’t all terrible.
Actually, he wasn’t terrible at all, but he did have very strong opinions on how I should be living my life and that wasn’t the vibe.
“What’s your role in the bar then, Tyler?” Nia asked as she licked a spot of sauce off the back of her hand.
“Mostly promotional and financial,” Tyler answered as she clutched her fingers around the stem of her wineglass like it was life support. “I’m just really excited about the concept and what need it’s trying to meet in the community.”
“What need is that?” Demetrius added himself to our conversation from where he was still seated on the couch across the room. “People who want the rim of their cocktails lined with hair clippings?”
I shot him an irritated look. “Ha. Ha. Haaaaaaaaa.”
I let the last part drag out as my voice deadpanned my annoyance with him.
“There will be a clear divide—door and everything—between the hair section and the bar section. We’ve already okayed it with the county, and there are other places already doing something similar, like Scissors and Scotch.”
“Ooh, I like that place,” Nicole said. “They do a great undercut.”
Tyler eyed Nicole with what seemed like a new sense of appreciation. “I’ve been strongly considering getting one of those, but I’m still too chicken.”
Nicole turned around and lifted the back of their long hair, revealing a geometric undercut design underneath. “Highly recommend. Especially in the summer here in DC. This whole place is built on a swamp, you know.”
I grimaced, not looking forward to that right around the corner. “It’s true. The humidity in July and August is truly disgusting.”
Tyler had a few more questions for Nicole about getting an undercut, so I floated my way over to Nia by the stove while the two of them kiki’d.
“So, Tyler, huh?” Nia cast me a quick side eye before handing me a spoon and instructing me to mix up the potato salad. “Things good there?”
I pushed the serving spoon into the bowl and began stirring in a sloppy, chunky fashion. “I mean, yeah. Why wouldn’t they be?”
Nia added some salt to the bowl I was stirring. “I mean, like…good good?”
“We’re figuring it out,” I replied, continuing to dodge the question because honestly, I didn’t have a fully complete answer yet. Also, Nia and I didn’t go into details too often. We were close—hell, she was probably the closest person in my life. She was like a mom to me, but she respected my space and never pushed for information unless I wanted to give it.
My sister shrugged. “Just that you haven’t brought someone home since Angie that summer after college—”
I lifted the spoon out of the bowl and held it up between my sister and me. “We do not say that name in my presence.”
Nia chuckled and put her hands up in defense. “I’m just saying. This feels like a big deal—bringing Tyler here? Having her meet all of us?”
“It’s not like all that,” I reiterated. “We’re friends right now. And business partners.”
She was as relentless as a dog with a bone. “So, you two haven’t hooked up at all?”
I paused stirring, because Nia rarely asked me about my sex life. “Uh…I mean, friends can mean a lot of things these days.”
Nia snorted and shook her head, then took the bowl of potato salad from me and handed me a head of iceberg lettuce. “Here. Tear this up for the salad.”
I did as she instructed—per usual—and smacked the core of the head against the edge of the counter, then pried it out with my fingers before tearing the leaves apart and depositing it into a ceramic serving bowl.
Nia was tossing in halved grape tomatoes, chopped-up green peppers, and slivers of red onion as we worked in harmony. “If y’all were to be more than friends, I don’t think that would be terrible, you know.”
My knees almost gave out from under me, and I turned to stare at my older sister in disbelief. Could this actually be the rare older sister approval I’d always heard of but just skirted shy of for the last thirty years?
“What?”
She didn’t respond right away but glanced behind us where Tyler was now feeling Nicole’s undercut and commenting on how soft it was.
“I mean, she seems like good people.” Nia handed me a bottle of olive oil and another bottle of balsamic vinegar. “You need good people in your life, Yas. You’ve worked hard, and you’ve got a fire in you that can’t be replicated. It’s special.”
I began to toss the salad with dressing as I listened. When Nia gave praise, it was meaningful. There wasn’t a doubt that she was speaking from her gut, and the raw honesty of the moment was making me feel choked up.
“Thanks, Nia.”
“Do you think she’d let me come listen to her record an episode of her podcast sometime?” Nia added, a sly grin now spreading across her fan.
I gasped audibly. “No! Don’t tell me you’re a fan.”
“Listening to podcasts really passes the time during the workday,” Nia replied. “She’s got a really great voice, too. Super soothing and somehow edgy, like it keeps you coming back.”
That, I couldn’t disagree with. “She does have an amazing voice. I just never took you for a podcast person.”
She took the salad from me when I was done tossing it. “Have you listened to it?”
“I’m going to.” Seriously, I really was. “But…thanks. That means a lot to me that you’re on board.”
“Of course,” Nia replied. “But speaking of being on board with things, I need your help with Dad.”
And there it was.
I groaned loud enough to express my annoyance. “What kind of help?”
Nia placed a hand on her hip. “I want him to join a ROMEO group in the area. He’s been really lonely lately, and I think it’ll be good for him to get out with more people his age.”
The corners of my lips pulled down in a frown. “What the hell is a ROMEO group?”
“Really Old Men Eating Out.”
I blinked once…then twice. “I’m sorry…what?”
“ROMEO,” Nia repeated. “It stands for Really Old Men Eating Out. It’s a national old men’s social group where they get together for lunch once a week.”
“Oooooh,” I said, the pieces clicking into place. “Eating out as in eating out at a restaurant.”
Nia furrowed her brows. “Obviously. What else would it mean?”
“I thought you were trying to get Dad some ass.”
Nia’s expression turned to one of revulsion. “Jesus Christ, Yasmeen. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Do you think I want to be thinking of Dad eating out?” I countered. “That image right there is a full therapy session, and I’m sending you the bill.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I’m serious though. He needs to get out there more and make friends. Talk it up at dinner in front of him.”
“Fine,” I agreed, even though I still wasn’t sure I was on board with the concept. They should at least consider changing the name, for frick’s sake.
“Yas!” Nicole waved me back over to where they were standing with Tyler. They had their hands in Tyler’s long, straight hair and were pulling it to one side. “What do you think if Tyler shaves off this side and half of the back, then does a striped design in it?”
“You’d look great no matter how your hair is,” I replied, letting my eyes hold Tyler’s gaze for a moment. “But I have no complaints with the way your hair is right now, either.”
A light pink hue spread across Tyler’s cheeks, and I was wondering if she was thinking about my fingers sliding through her hair and pulling her toward me with a gentle tug.
I was definitely thinking about that.
“Hey, do you want a tour?” I asked Tyler. “This is actually my childhood home, so all the skeletons are here.”
Tyler grinned. “I’d love that.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the living room and toward the hallway with the stairwell at one end and the laundry room at the other. I pointed out a few pictures on the wall, a guest bathroom, and a scratch on the bottom of the baseboard from when my brother and I had tried to play hockey in the house when we were teenagers. We scaled the stairs to the second floor next, and I gave her a quick peek into my siblings’ rooms, my father’s room, and then we stopped in front of the door to my room at the far end of the upstairs hallway.
“This is your room?” Tyler asked as she stepped through the doorway and surveyed the walls lined with peeling pop star posters and collages from magazine clippings that hadn’t aged well. Tyler pointed to the largest one in the corner. “Usher? Really?”
“You don’t have to be straight to want to get it on to ‘You Make Me Wanna’…” I countered. “His sound is straight fire.”
Tyler grinned as she sat on the top of my old twin-sized mattress with the fuchsia-colored bedspread. “I don’t disagree. I learned to masturbate to “Nice and Slow.””
My jaw dropped as my mouth fell open. “Well…damn.”
She pushed a bit further onto the bed, then leaned back onto her elbows. “You ever hooked up with someone in this bed?”
The answer to that was absolutely yes, but I’m no fool.
“Never.” I glanced toward the hallway and quickly closed the door to give us some privacy. “But we could change that right now.”
“Bullshit,” Tyler called me out on my lie. “How thin are these walls?”
“Thick enough that I’ve never been caught,” I replied, not that my father was home much to monitor me when I was a teenager. As a single father, he’d been working almost around the clock to support the three of us children. I appreciated the hell out of that, but it also meant that there was a lot of growing up quickly and fending for myself.
“Quick.” Tyler’s single word was a command.
I lifted one brow as I sauntered toward her. “Yes, ma’am.”
My lips found hers quickly as I pressed her down into the mattress and covered her body with my own. She groaned against my mouth, and my entire body lit up in response.
“Tell me what you want,” I whispered between nibbles of her lips down to the flesh of her neck as I traced my tongue across her jawline.
Tyler didn’t hesitate to grab my right hand and push it between her legs. It took all my restraint to go slowly, but I pressed my palm flat against her stomach and slid it underneath the waistband of her jeans. She grabbed the top button and zipper and loosened it for me as I slipped beneath the lacy fabric of her underwear until I found the spot I knew would make her body react. It did. The moment I touched her, her back arched away from the bed, and she exhaled against my lips like she’d been broken open.
It didn’t take long for me to work her to the edge of her fervor, and I slid my middle finger deeper inside as I felt her fall over the edge, her body trembling against me in heavy pants and shivers. I didn’t let up until she stilled, trying to catch her breath.
“Turn around,” she whispered to me once she found her voice and scooted herself up into a seated position.
I did as instructed and sat on the mattress with my back to her chest. She pulled me tighter against her, clutching me in a hug as her arm wrapped around to my front. There wasn’t even a moment of hesitation on her part, as she seemed to know exactly what I wanted.
The way our bodies connected felt like old flames who’d never been apart. She knew me in a way few other women had, and I had been around long enough to know what a rarity that was. Our connection was more than physical, of course, but in this realm, we knocked it out of the freaking park.
With every strum of her finger, I pushed my back harder against her, somehow wanting to be closer than we already were. It wasn’t possible, but I had to try. A moan escaped my lips that absolutely could not be silenced—and was much louder than I intended.
Tyler moved her other hand to my mouth and gently, but very firmly, pressed her palm against my lips, silencing me. “Shh. We have to be quiet.”
I was panting at that point, and something about her forcing me to be quieter was only spurring me closer and closer to the edge of climax. My groan was now vibrations against her hand, and I slid down on the bed as my body gave way to the complete ecstasy of the moment.
She slowed but didn’t fully come to a stop until my body was no longer trembling. Only then did she release the hand from over my mouth, leaving kisses on the side of my neck as a parting gift.
“Come on.” Tyler slid her leg around me and stood up off the bed. “Your family is going to start suspecting something if we’re up here much longer.”
I literally could not care less in that moment, but I grinned and took her hand, following her downstairs.